Prof. Dr. Armin Grunwald
Head of the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) at KIT
Professor of Philosophy of Technology at the KIT Institute of Philosophy
Abstract
Since the European Enlightenment, technological progress has been said to increase human freedom and serve human emancipation. This has been achieved to a large extent in many cases over the last few centuries, albeit always at a high price. However, there are doubts about artificial intelligence. New lack of freedom is feared, for example when computers make decisions and turn people into objects of their decisions, when public communication and individual behavior are manipulated or when algorithms take control. The German Ethics Council has proposed an evaluation framework for AI applications that is based precisely on whether and how they promote human freedom or run counter to it. In my presentation, I will set out this argument and explain it with examples in order to highlight the opportunities and risks of AI and the corresponding options for action.
